Right Thinking from the Left Coast

Tag: Kenneth Gladney

Before I get into the post, a short PSA. Some of you have from time to time sent me an email on the site’s PM service alerting me to various news events that you find worthy of discussion. I encourage the continuation of this practice. Some might want to sound off on a topic that we have not gotten to yet and this lets us know to look at it. Admittedly I might not find the topic as compelling as you do (like this one) but if I can I will post something on it.

There are two things you can count on as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, the SEIU thugs will resort to violence when confronted with opposition, and black folks do not like it when one their own goes to the other side, even if he is doing it just to make a buck.

2 years ago Kenneth Gladney parked himself outside a Tea Party sponsored town hall meeting in order to hawk some of his wares, “Don’t tread on me” flags. Obama recently made his famous “punch back” speech to gin up support for his base and lay out a battle plan for his SEIU hit men. So some SEIU members attacked Gladney with one calling him the N word, here is some video:

The trial of the two men who beat Kenneth Gladney almost two years ago came to a close Tuesday afternoon. After two days of testimony, the jury deliberated for forty minutes before Perry Mollens and former St. Louis mayoral candidate, the Reverand Elston McCowan, were found not guilty. McCowan and Molens were members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) when the attack occurred.

On the first day of the trial, Gateway Pundit noted that union supporters were out in force to intimidate Gladney. In the courtroom, the defense planned to turn the court fight into a he-said, she-said because the prosecution did not have video of how the fight started. The defense also argued that McCowan and Molens had a right to self-defense, but that rests on the belief that Gladney instigated the confrontation.

A couple things, we don’t know how the fight started and no doubt this had some effect of the jury’s decision. We also see Kenneth walking around afterwards apparently unharmed. Yes, this in no way condones violence or excuses assault but the jury had no evidence of how bad he was assaulted since the tape starts with him on the ground.

As I sat in the courtroom today watching the closing arguments, the difference between the prosecuting attorney and the union paid private lawyer was as stark a contrast as night is from day. The spit, polish and confidence of the union lawyer, compared to the stumbling and stuttering of the unsure prosecuting attorney made it more than obvious what the outcome of this trial was going to be.

And this really should not surprise anyone, I’ve seen it myself several hundred times. The D.A’s that prosecute these cases are usually fresh out of law school and get paid peanuts (after they get some experience trying cases they usually go private as defense lawyers, where the real money is made). So any defendant that can pay for a good defense, will get it.

It is also interesting that Gladney is considering suing his assailants for violating his civil rights under the guise of a hate crime. You would think that black on black crimes would not fall under “hate” but their reasoning in this matter is unique and I find somewhat compelling. But I personally find the very concept of “Hate Crimes” stupid and worthless, so I would be a tough sell.

To me, this whole episode is a “dog bites man” story, that is why I did not post anything on it initially. The SEIU are criminals and thugs, to think that they would resort to criminal activity and beat those that get in their way, this is not news and not out of character. Yes, it pisses me off to see them getting away with stuff, and I hope Gladney gets some money out of them, but unions in general are losing their support and following with the folks. I would not expect them to go quietly.